Monthly Archives: April 2010

Bill Ronay & I had eaten our cereal and were walking down the driveway for our walk when, NOT TEN FEET AWAY, this fish thwacked onto the ground to the left of us, bounced once, and lay flat out dead. We heard heavy wings pumping and saw the shadow of a bird flying past us on the right. No breakfast treat for that fellow!

There’s been considerable angst (rightfully so) by the arts community because our esteemed legislature is sliding quickly toward a huge mistake – closing down the Georgia Council for the Arts. They’ve cut funding to GCA considerably each of the past several years; but within the last week, they seem to be ready to eviscerate the agency that provides the conduit to every one of Georgia’s 159 counties to offer art programming to its residents.

Bill Ronay and I had just paid $25 per person to enjoy the excellent Preview Party for Fired Works, a Macon Arts show and sale of 58 potters’ work. We were resting in our $100 motel room in Warner Robins, preparing for a fun day at Mossy Creek (where we spent $65), when newscasters on WMAZ- Macon announced the results of a web poll they’d been taking all day.

Should the State spend more or less on the arts?

66% said less

12% said more

22% said about the same

Why would web poll respondents vote that way? In my opinion, they do not understand how much economic impact the arts has in Middle Georgia or in the State.

They think the arts is a high-brow, incomprehensible kind of thing. They, like every one of the legislators I know, may well have a wife or son or other relative who is involved in some sort of creative endeavor, but they do not consider that person as involved in an industry making an impact on the State’s economy.

And that is the arts’ fault. We do not talk the same language as our county commissioners, our city councils, our mayors, our representatives, our senators, or our governor. They talk MONEY and ECONOMIC IMPACT. We do not.

I challenge every person in the arts industry to start talking about their economic impact on their community. WE MUST COMMUNICATE!

“Are you wondering where handmade retailers are buying their inventories?” Nancy Vince asked as she began her Three Minutes of Fame presentation at the CODA conference last Tuesday, “They are buying ONLINE at Wholesalecrafts.com!”

Total online artist sales for January, February and March 2010 were $737,259, an increase of 40.54% over 2009! Retailers placed a total of 3,167 orders. And, it is estimated that only 30% of transactions are actually placed through the online shopping cart; approx 70% bypass the system by dealing directly with the artists. See the entire article under Notes on their Facebook page.

Take a look at how Wholesalecrafts.com works. Seriously consider joining the 1300 artists and 16,000 retailers who do business on the site!